his hair was einstein-crazy.
we stood there, together, in the middle of a crowded and busy parking lot.
i didn't know him,
at all.
i don't know where he came from.
all the ones that had flagged me down had driven or walked away.
and i stood there completely lost.
until i heard his voice beside me,
mind if i have a look?
i moved aside to give him room, a better angle to glance at the tarp wrapped snugly around my wheel.
this man with the crazy hair got down on his hands and knees in the cold and the slush and peered into the depths,
lifted his hand and began to pull.
would you mind, miss, to turn your wheel to the left?
shakily, i walked around the van and did as asked,
and we did this together for the next 20 minutes.
he stayed on his knees in the slush for 20 minutes to help a stranger.
another man approached, pocket knife in tobacco stained hands,
i don't know how sharp it is, but if i can help...
he cut away the last of the tarp and together they maneuvered the bulk of it up and around until it was free.
that's when he stood up,
this man who came up to my shoulder.
this man who had the crazy hair...
he had been wearing pristine and pressed light khaki pants,
and now they clung to his legs, ruined.
i don't have any cash on me to pay for a cleaning bill...
i quietly whispered.
i'm so sorry.
he looked up into my face, the biggest smile spread across his lips,
it was my pleasure, miss. it was a joy to do a good deed for the day.
i don't know his name.
but maybe i know his heart?
i come home and pull into the drive...
a picture of how far i had dragged the weight of what could have cost us dearly.
and i think how He takes care of His own.
how He provides in the moments that seem hopeless and bleak,
when we stand there lost and confused about how to untangle the mess we find ourselves in, wrapped up in our shame...
and we hear that voice...His Voice whisper near,
let Me in...let Me untangle the impossible.
i dragged a tarp for two or more miles. around corners and up hills and through stoplights,
a stranger knelt in the slush while the snow fell around us...
and He reminded me in the middle of it all,
that He is here.
and He can use anyone and any means to speak that truth into a life that is seeking Him.
and i give thanks on this twenty-first day that finds me here...and for the heart...and knees...of a stranger.
